Getting Started With Latin Content: Foreign Language Grade(s): 4th – up Perspective: Secular Prep Time: Minimal Teacher Manual: None Teacher Involvement: Minimal Cost: $ || ? Pages: 224 Publication Date: 2011 Publisher: gettingstartedwithlatin.com Date of Review: 01/02/2014 Reviewer: Sarah Butler MacLeod Getting Started with Latin (Beginning Latin for Homeschoolers and Self-Taught Students of Any Age), by William E. Linney, approaches Latin gradually and, over 132 single page lessons, introduces the learner to basic Latin grammar. It’s not a full year of Latin, but it’s a fine and effective grounding in the language. With only one new idea per lesson, this is a gentle approach to a complicated language. Linney covers the first and second declension, two conjugations of present tense verbs, the concept of gender, and a handful of adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, and conjunctions. The vocabulary is relatively small – farmers, sailors, beasts, and women; build, sail, swim, and plow in a variety of combinations – but this decreased vocabulary allows the learner to focus on learning the grammar itself rather than on memorizing voluminous vocabulary lists. The content may not be the most scintillating material to translate, but this sound beginner’s text is entirely nonthreatening, an essential feature for…

Hooked on Phonics: Learn to Read Content: Phonics Grade(s): PreK – 2nd Perspective: Secular Prep Time: Minimal Teacher Manual: Included Teacher Involvement: Essential Cost: $$$$ || ? Publication Date: 2009 Publisher: www.hookedonphonics.com Common Core Aligned: Yes ** From the Publisher’s Website: ** Children learn at their own pace, mastering each new skill before they move on to the next. Practicing and reinforcing new skills is designed to be fun, and every experience ends with a celebration. PreK: Uses a simple and fun approach to give children a strong foundation in phonemic awareness. Teaches rhyming, beginning sounds, letter names and sounds. Includes engaging phonics-based activities, music videos, and online games. Designed for children ages 3 to 4. Kindergarten: Each lesson is designed to take about 20 minutes a day. It covers beginning and ending sounds, short and long vowel sounds, sound combinations, basic word endings, and simple sight words. Includes a library of original books written by award-winning authors. Designed for children ages 4 to 6. 1st Grade: Learn to Read First Grade is designed to help kids learn the building blocks of reading to help them become confident readers. It teaches: Beginning and ending consonant blends; as well as -er,…

Everyday Learning Logic Puzzles Content: Math – Logic Grade(s): 3rd – 7th Perspective: Secular Prep Time: None Teacher Manual: N/A Parent Involvement: Moderate Cost: $ || ? info Publisher: www.teacherspayteachers.com Updated Review: 04/17/2014 From Everyday Learning’s website: We’ve taken critical thinking activities to a whole new level by integrating content-area facts with fun, deductive thinking, table logic puzzles. Everyday Learning Logic packets come with a sample puzzle and step-by-step directions to help your kids learn how to do these kinds of brain teasers on their own. An answer sheet is in the back to help make your job a little easier. All of our logic puzzles have been kid-tested and edited for clarity and solve-ability. Find 5-puzzle packets for $3.00 each on the following topics: Halloween Thanksgiving Winter Holidays US Presidents Physical Geography Colonial History Be sure to check out ABC=123 Brainteasers, math-based logic puzzles called alphametics. These math puzzles appear deceptively easy at first glance, but can be very frustrating for students who have not been given some basic problem-solving skills to use. Alphametic problems require a great deal of mathematical reasoning to solve, which is why we’ve included an extra two puzzles in the packet with hints for…

Muzzy Content: Foreign Language – Multiple Grade(s): PreK – 8th Perspective: Secular Prep Time: Minimal Teacher Manual: Yes Teacher Involvement: Essential Cost: $ || ? Pages: DVD, print & online components Publication Date: Publisher: www.muzzybbc.com Updated Review: May 26, 2017 From Muzzy’s website: Developed by the BBC, MUZZY’s “see and say, listen and learn” method patterns the way children learn their first language. MUZZY follows national foreign language standards which emphasize the use of functional language, repetition and “spiraling.” In MUZZY, words and concepts are first introduced, and then introduced again and again in many new contexts. Guided Immersion Learning Portal Children will access Muzzy’s simple easy interface that naturally guides them through the progression of discovering a new language. Self-guided learning makes it easy and delightful for your child. Animated Stories The cornerstone of the MUZZY program, the MUZZY Level I and II stories combine humor and adventure to keep children captivated as hundreds of new words and phrases are introduced and repeated in new contexts. Laugh along in Level I as Muzzy’s taste for parking meters gets him into trouble, and sit on the edge of your seats for the exciting helicopter chase that just may decide the…

Rockin’ Root Words Content: Vocabulary Grade(s): 3rd – 8th Perspective: Secular Prep Time: Minimal Teacher Manual: No Teacher Involvement: Moderate Cost: $ || ? Pages: 161 Publication Date: 2010 Publisher: www.prufrock.com Updated Review: May 7, 2014 From Prufrock’s website: If your students like Red Hot Root Words, they are going to love Rockin’ Root Words, an exciting twist on vocabulary development! In these comprehensive books, students will enjoy learning the roots, suffixes, and prefixes of more than 500 common vocabulary, words presented in an easy-to-follow style that utilizes visual learning and word maps to enhance student comprehension and memory. By teaching students word parts using word webs, graphic organizers, and cartoons, teachers can ensure that every student in their classroom understands the basics of vocabulary development. Book 1 is focused on vocabulary for grades 3–5 and covers a variety of topics, including numbers, colors, family and relationships, location and distance, and scientific vocabulary. Book 2 is geared to the more advanced vocabulary needs of students in grades 6–8, covering topics, including time, human emotions and experiences, biological sciences, government and politics, and religion. About the Authors: Manisha Shelley Kaura was a high school senior from the Detroit area when Rockin’…

Red Hot Root Words Content: Vocabulary Grade(s): 3rd – 8th Perspective: Secular Prep Time: Minimal Teacher Manual: No Teacher Involvement: Moderate Cost: $ || ? Pages: 120 Publication Date: 2005 Publisher: www.prufrock.com Updated Review: May 7, 2014 From Prufrock’s website: Book 1 – Grades 3-5 A knowledge of word parts gives students a head start on decoding words in reading and testing situations. Each of the well-developed lessons in this text includes: * one to three word parts along with meanings and sample words, * five vocabulary words that use the prefixes or root words, * definitions and sample sentences for each of the five words, * a practice exercise that lets students apply knowledge of the words and their meanings, and * a one-page review worksheet for one or two lessons that presents more unique opportunities to work with the prefixes and root words and to see how they are combined with suffixes. Book 2 – Grades 6-8 This book, the second in a two-book series, contains three sections (prefixes, root words, and suffixes), but each section has the same format. Each of the lessons include: * two to four prefixes, suffixes, or root words along with meanings and…

Mapping the World by Heart Content: Geography Grade(s): 5th -12th Perspective: Secular Prep Time: Moderate Teacher Manual: Yes Teacher Involvement: Essential Cost: $$$ || ? Pages: 188 pages Publication Date: 2010 Publisher: fablevisionlearning.com Review Updated: 5/7/2014 NOTE: Mapping the World with Art is often confused with the Mapping the World by Heart geography curriculum. From FableVision’s website: Mapping the World by Heart includes a set of maps and a comprehensive teacher’s guide that makes it easy to integrate lessons and activities into any class’s existing curriculum. The teacher’s guide provides a framework for teaching geography all year long, which can be easily adapted to meet your needs. It is laid out as a “Menu of Lessons”. “Appetizers” section includes lesson plans (like The Grapefruit Lesson) that help your students understand important geography terms and concepts. “Entrées” section is the “backbone of the location and place segments of the curriculum.” It presents a group of map checklists for students, and the procedure for each lesson is approximately the same. Students use atlases or maps from outside the curriculum to shade and label blank maps. After those initial maps are checked for accuracy, review activities begin (including games suggested in a…

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